The Saltdogs have signed former big-league RHP Michael Blazek, RHP Colby Blueberg, RHP Austin Pettibone and OF Colton Burns, the club has announced.

Lincoln also dealt INF Jake Vieth to Lake Erie (Frontier League) in exchange for a player to be named later and also traded C Corey Bass to York (Atlantic League) for future considerations.

Blazek, 30, is a native of Las Vegas, NV and pitched in four different seasons at the Major League level, totaling 123 innings with 59 walks and 104 strikeouts to go along with an 8-6 record and 4.39 ERA across 109 appearances (1 start).

He was originally drafted in the 35th round of the 2007 MLB Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals out of Arbor View HS in Las Vegas and made his big-league debut with STL in 2013. He also pitched with Milwaukee later that year and then again with the Brewers from 2015-17.

Blazek’s best year in MLB came in 2015 with MIL, when he posted a 2.43 ERA over 45 relief appearances. He tossed 55.2 innings and gave up just 40 hits with 18 walks and 47 strikeouts.

Last year, Blazek found his way into the Diamondbacks organization, where he pitched at both the Double-A and Triple-A level.

The ‘Dogs also added RHP Colby Blueberg, a former 24th-round pick of the San Diego Padres who reached Triple-A El Paso last season.

Blueberg, 25, is also a native Nevadan who pitched collegiately at the University of Nevada-Reno. In his professional career, Blueberg is 21-8 with a 2.53 ERA in 187 relief appearances. He’s also recorded 45 saves in five years of affiliated baseball.

Over the course of his five-year career, he’s never posted a cumulative yearly ERA above 3.90 and his best individual season came in 2015, when he tossed 42 games as a reliever and went 4-1 with a 1.64 ERA in Single-A and Advanced-A.

Austin Pettibone is another right-handed pitcher the ‘Dogs recently added after he spent each of his last five seasons in the Texas Rangers organization.

The 26-year-old California native was drafted out of UC Santa Barbara in the 24th round of the 2014 MLB Draft and has a 6-14 record with a 4.42 ERA over his professional career.

The 6-foot-4 righty has 17 professional starts under his belt with 233 hits, 20 homers, 69 walks and 163 strikeouts over 212.2 innings.

Also signed to a contract was OF Colton Burns, who also played at UC Santa Barbara and was picked up in the 18th round by the Minnesota Twins in the 2017 MLB Draft.

Burns, a California native, has a career .263/.397/.450 slashline with 33 walks, 56 strikeouts, seven homers and 21 RBI across 210 professional plate appearances. He played rookie ball in both 2017 and 18.

 

The Saltdogs begin their 19th season on May 16th at the Sioux City Explorers. The team opens the 2019 home schedule at Haymarket Park on Thursday, May 23rd. For more information on the ‘Dogs, follow the team on Facebook and on Twitter/Instagram @saltdogsball.